What Is LDL Cholesterol And Why It’s Called The BAD Cholesterol

    Today’s question is from David and he asks:

    “What is LDL Cholesterol, why is it bad and how can I lower it quickly and naturally?”

    A comprehensive lipid panel or “Cholesterol” blood test, provides information about the amount of cholesterol carried by different lipoproteins in your blood.

    lipoprotein_figure

    There are 5 major types of lipoproteins:

      1. Chylomicrons (ky-lo-mi-crons) are typically triglycerides
      2. very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)
      3. intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL)
      4. low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
      5. high-density lipoprotein (HDL)

    Today I’m going to quickly cover your LDL, which is called low-density lipoprotein because LDL particles tend to be less dense than other kinds of cholesterol particles.

    This type of cholesterol is produced primarily by your liver, which is an important fact for you to know and I’ll tell you why in a few seconds…

    Now, this LDL cholesterol is very important in the creation of cell walls, hormones, and digestive juices. So, LDL is needed for a healthy body.

    LDL_bad_cholesterol

    Unfortunately, LDL is also known as the “Bad Cholesterol” because when your LDL level is high, it can start to form a plaque-like substance on the walls of your cardiovascular system (arteries and veins), blocking the natural flow of blood and leaving you at severe risk for a heart attack and stroke As seen in this chart…

    LDL (Bad) Cholesterol Level LDL Cholesterol Category
    Less than 100 mg/dL Optimal
    100 — 129 mg/dL Near optimal/above optimal
    130 — 159 mg/dL and above Borderline high
    160 — 189 mg/dL High
    190 mg/dL and above Very High

    Your goal is to have “lower” LDL levels, which is the OPPOSITE of HDL (high-density lipoprotein)… and I’ll cover HDL in a different article.

    An easy way to remember this is to think of the “L” in LDL as LOW and the “H” in HDL as HIGH And thus your goal is to have lower LDL and higher HDL.

    How To Improve Your “Bad’ LDL Cholesterol

    A proper diet and exercise will help improve your LDL levels…. And I’ll discuss these two topics in detail in a different article. But what’s important to know is that as stated earlier, most of your cholesterol is made in your liver (80%)… and NOT from the foods you eat.

    cholesterol_source

    Now, this doesn’t mean you can go eat pizza and ice cream every day…. But most people are doing the WRONG things to support healthy cholesterol levels And this is why most of us aren’t getting the positive results we expect we’re frustrated with the lack of results and sadly, we give up and take harmful medications.

    I know this because this is exactly the problems I ran into with lowering my parent’s cholesterol, levels back in 1998.

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